Chapter 10
Rivka’s first assignment is to hear a trade dispute between neighboring systems Planet A and Planet B. The dispute has escalated to the point that the two systems are facing off, ready to fight a war. Rivka races into the middle of it and gets the parties back to the negotiating table, located on Planet B. She commits them to binding arbitration. She has the authority to determine how the contract details who is responsible for what.
They agree because they risk losing their Federation membership if they breach the contract. They go back and forth, each side (they are aliens, make them cool) tries to get Rivka alone to see how their position should dominate. She can’t interpret the flashes she gets from their minds, so she doesn’t know who to believe.
Both sides are pushy and she ends the side conversations with fist fights as they try to physically intimidate her. She beats the crap out of both sides (their lackeys, the prime negotiators would never dirty their hands with the wet work, unlike the Magistrates).
She returns to the corvette to think.
Chapter 11
As she determines a contract that screws each negotiator but is in the best interest of both their people, there’s a big argument. She hits the table so hard, it breaks in half. She hands the trade deal contract to each party to sign. They both point to the broken table. “Just sign it on your laps, for fuck’s sake!”
At that point, a bomb goes off. Rivka’s nanos save her life, but one of the main negotiators (Planet A) is dead and the other is barely injured. Even in her pain-fogged stupor, she sees that they may have crossed the line to war as the one side will accuse the other of setting off the bomb.
She determines two courses of action. Get both parties to sign the contract to avert the war, and then find who planted the bomb.
The rest of this chapter is medical recovery and posturing. Everything is spinning out of control.
Chapter 12
Rivka brings her team to Planet B and starts the investigation. She suspects it was someone local as they had the access. The aliens from Planet A were restricted in their movements, ostensibly for their own safety.
Planet A’s propaganda war was turning the A population against B. Rivka starts at the scene of the bombing. She feels like it should affect her, but doesn’t. She is looking at the scene dispassionately. There’s a blood stain in one area. The blood was hers. Now, it’s evidence in a crime.
I’m a Magistrate. I will solve this crime and bring the motherfuckers responsible to Justice. I know there’s more than one. Wherever it leads, I’ll follow. If I have to fuck people up along the way, so be it.
Throw out some bombing clues – parts of a detonator, residue, location, access to the scene beforehand, timing of the explosion suggests remote detonation, but who knew when the contract would be signed and at that moment?
Chapter 13
Rivka takes evidence samples back to the corvette to study them, leaving her team on the planet. Red is out of his element because there are no humans that he can impress with his looks. Jay and Red explore the area but stand out. They can go nowhere without the feeling of being watched.
“Fuck it. Sounds like we need the direct approach.” They go from store to store and ask the same question. “Why do you hate Planet B?”
The response is canned, almost scripted. That’s when they figure the propaganda machine on Planet A is running at full speed. They head for the media center and find that it’s a planet wide broadcast and run entirely by the government. They haven’t had free elections.
Ever.
Because the people always thought they had a choice, but they never did. They were told what to believe. No matter which candidate won the election, the people would always get more of the same.
Red and Jay report this to Rivka. She is not surprised. Her analysis is complete. It’s inconclusive. The perps were good enough that the explosives were commonly used on both planets. Nothing indicates one side over the other.
Rivka enjoyed their tale of the direct action approach. “I’m on my way. We’ll see if the Magistrate can get some straight answers.” She’s now starting to feel her role and willing to use some of the authority of her position. She wants to talk with Planet A’s leader, alone.
Chapter 14
Rivka is granted an audience, but not alone. The leader can’t shield his thoughts and is worried that Planet A will be found out. He’s a lackey, but complicit. The shadow government runs everything. Rivka’s insight shows her faceless entities behind the throne, as it may be.
But she brushes that off as it seems to lead her away from her mission. Her job is to find and punish the bomber and get the trade agreement signed. There’s overlap between the bombing and the shadow government, of course, but she has to find the bomber as she knows that she’ll get nowhere coming at the problem from the top down. People at the bottom were much more likely to talk.
She also wanted to explore the limits of her leverage. Could she hold her emotions at bay while people lied to her? It was a game of mental chess. Was she prepared to play?
She strong-arms the building security to get a complete list of all people who were in the building for a full day prior. Rivka puts the EI (Cosmo) on finding all the video from within the building and compiling a full portfolio.
Rivka matches all the names and pictures with people in the videos and she finds a few that aren’t accounted for. The Planet B building security wonder how that could happen and have no helpful ideas. Rivka is stymied, until Jay shows her an alternate way into the building.
And there’s a camera, but the video feed doesn’t go to security. Planet B security help her tap it and trace it. She holds off the government leaders, slapping them in the head with their Federation charter which clearly delineates that Magistrates will be given full support when investigating crimes that they were called to.
“But we didn’t call you to investigate the bombing,” they argue.
“But you called me to negotiate the trade pact. Causation is insufficient in establishing that a crime has been committed, but Rivka declares that the two are causally related, ergo, she was called, now get the fuck out of my way.
Chapter 15
They find where the feed terminates, an old building with a revolving door of renters. They will never find the video, but they do find who rented the space where the fiber ends. They track that alien down. He is terrified as he’s running for his life.
Why?
Because I’m a loose end. They don’t like loose ends. Rivka sees a face in a flash from the alien’s mind. One of the members of the Planet B party.
Let the hands-on interrogation begin. Bring Yutta to me!
Oh hell, no. He runs. The team chases him through the alien city and into the countryside. Before they can catch him, he jumps off a cliff to his death.
Son of a bitch.
Chapter 16
Back to the scene of the crime. “What are we missing?”
“Evidence?” Red suggests.
“No shit. Why would we have no evidence? How in the hell can someone waltz in here and plant a bomb, even if they did use the back door? I want the entire negotiating party back here, from both sides.”
“Planet A people went home.”
“I don’t give a shit. Bring them back! Who doesn’t understand the definition of ‘binding arbitration?’ Get them back here. We have a contract to sign.”
She expects that the perps will try again. She turns Jay and Red loose to cover the back door. She’ll check everyone who joins her in the new meeting room.
Bringing the parties together will neither be quick nor easy. She is constantly vigilant, looking for the minions of the shadow government. She stays in the room they’ll use, denying access to everyone.
She sees the lurkers, at the edge of vision, always, peeking around corners and watching. She gives them the finger.
Chapter 17
Racing toward the signing. Planet B’s negotiator (Miento) wants t
o go back to the drawing board. Rivka smiles and shakes her head.
“The agreement was finished. We’re not going to let an ass-hugging terrorist to walk us backward. Once you two sign, then the reason for the terrorism will no longer exist. This contract will be iron clad. The one to violate it will be blockaded by Federation ships. Your planet will wither and die. If there are some anarchists who want them, then it’s incumbent upon you to find them. That will be an internal issue, so sign the fucking contract as the arbitrator has determined.”
Miento tries to stall.
“Why are you stalling? Your murderous thugs are late? I know it was your merry band who conducted the bombing. I know why the good people of Planet A put up with your bullshit. You have stuff they need and they have stuff you need. Your delays are complete and utter bullshit. In lawyerese, if you refuse to sign a properly negotiated contract, it’ll go into effect and will be binding in any case.”
“But then my name won’t be on it,” the alien sighs. He puts down the pen and walks away.”
“Binding!” Rivka yells after him.
Meanwhile Red and Jay intercept the assassination team, but they’re good. Red is able to off a couple, but the other four drive them back. Jay is looking for cover. She doesn’t mind breaking into places, but when the lead starts flying, she’s running for cover.
Planet A signs and Rivka signs as the formal arbiter. She indicates that Planet B is a willing party and attaches the signed arbitration document as proof of validity in lieu of signature.
She transmits the document to the corvette for further transmission to the Federation.
But the corvette is getting jammed.
“Too late boys,” when Red and Jay run into the room with the four assassins hot on their tail. “Contract is a sealed deal.”
They start firing and the Planet A delegation and Rivka’s team are trapped in the room. She didn’t bring a pistol. She only had knives and what was in the room. Red hands his weapon to her.
“A crime to stop a valid negotiation on top of another crime to cover up the first crime.”
“They don’t look like they’re trying to cover anything, which means they are guilty.”
Rivka dumps the conference table on its side and they wait. The men burst into the room. She empties the pistol. They are wearing body armor, but so is she. She is able to find a couple soft points, but runs out of ammo before she runs out of targets. She downs the third with a thrown knife, but the fourth knocks Red out.
Rivka takes him on – epic fight, Rivka improvises a weapon and delivers the killing blow. She kicks his corpse as her chest heaves with each breath. “Justice is served, jiz ball.”
Chapter 18
The corvette is still being jammed. Planet A’s fleet comes to the rescue after being summoned by a local broadcast that broke through the jamming signal. The Planet A forces surround the corvette and break the jam.
The contract is transmitted.
“It’s over,” Rivka declares.
“Is it?” Red asks. She recovers her knives, hands his pistol back, and together they hurry out to meet with the government leader.
“But it’s not signed...” he stutters.
“But it is,” she said, pointing to his signature on the binding arbitration agreement. “It’s like you signed it. Good luck telling your masters that you committed them to this.”
“Wait! You can’t leave me here. I request asylum!”
Rivka looks at the man. “Fuck off.” And walks away. He throws himself at her feet. “No, really. Fuck off. You can either figure out how to make this work, or you can all kill each other. At this point? It’s not my problem. I’m sorry. I think you might not have heard.” She grabs his face in both her hands. “FUCK. OFF.”
He is in the fetal position and crying when they leave and go back to the corvette.
After they return to their ship, they allow a delegation from Planet B on board.
The conversation is about what Planet B can do to make sure the agreement is implemented without causing more grief from Planet A. She senses regime change is coming.
Especially since Cosmo tapped the media broadcast. They start sending out messages about how friendly B is and that the contract would usher in a new era of prosperity for all of A’s people.
Chapter 19
Rivka declares victory, her role complete and heads back to home base.
Her debrief with her mentor is less than stellar. His point was that she should have controlled the situation better from the beginning. Allowing a bomb into the location where they were working was unacceptable.
From the top of the mountain to the deepest valley she falls. “But I got the law right, didn’t I?”
“Sure, but any goofy fucker can get that part right. It’s how you massage it into place without beating people over the head with it that will make you great.”
“Then why do I train so hard to beat people over the head?”
“Because we’re not perfect. We’re Magistrates. Let me buy you a beer so we can tell lies in the peace and comfort of our own drunken stupor.”
Planet A - Pretaria. Known for its hotter-than-average, arid climate. Planet A's people - Pretarians. Average between 7' - 9' tall, wear their hair long with small-diameter braids on each side of their face (one per side). Anyone seen with shorn hair is outcaste or has been judged a criminal. Orange skin tones, yellow eyes with kidney-shaped pupils (think goat), leathery skin from sun exposure, and a penchant for wearing lots of clacking beads.
Planet A names - Maseer, Rhonali, Tinashi, Ngobo, Sinraloo
Planet B - Keome, desert-ish - think red rocks of Colorado color with deep peatish colored lakes. Flat surface with craters (canyon-y) Planet B's people - Tall, 7 or 8 feet, kind of chameleonable (like all the very very descriptive adjectives - able, ish, y. LOL). bi-pedal, long, long, multi-armed with eyes all around that move like an owl.
Miento (primary), Yus (secondary), Suarpok (priest), Ome (heroine), Yutta (bad guy)
Author Notes - Craig Martelle
Written June 18, 2018
You are still reading! Thank you so much. It doesn’t get much better than that.
I went to the dentist, and they asked what I do. A sci-fi author with lots of titles. See my books in Barnes & Noble, too. Dr. Tyler Ingersoll in Fairbanks did a bang-up job on a filling that had gone astray, so I asked him if he’d like me to put one of his characters in a book. So here he is, Dr. Tyler Toofakre, the dentist who works on our favorite barrister. The persona that my dentist wanted was complete normalcy. Most dentists on TV are portrayed as weird or creepy. It’s hard not to notice. In cozy mysteries, if there’s a dentist? Keep your eye on that guy... As far as Toofakre? I think I’ll make him a recurring character. When the universe gets to be too much, sometimes it’s nice to live vicariously through those with more staid lives.
Ingersoll Family Dentistry, Fairbanks, Alaska. Nothing like gaining new fans. The Fairbanks community as a whole is supportive.
I've gone with Ricciardo Domesta (do me, sta) by Rocco Lauria for the bureaucrat, only named a couple times.
But I found that I needed an AI who would help out during interrogations and do criminal law research. Lexis/Nexis is the legal database lawyers use, so the AI will be Lexi Malachi, with props to Melissa Giese for Malachi. I'll also at some point use Felcario Renaldo Squitieri, suggested by Melissa Williams, with more props. Thank you guys for your quick, broad-ranging, and far-reaching suggestions. I know that I can always count on you (yinz in Pittsburghese).
Shout out to Karen Cabael for offering Chaz Woodworth the Third, although Karen may have expected this name to be used for a minor antagonist, I have a soft spot for the name Charles. Charles Martel was the grandfather of Charles the Great, known by his Romanized name, Charlemagne, from whom I'm descended on my father's side. My paternal grandfather was named Charles. My mother's dad was also named Charles, but he went by Chaz. I think we'll use this for the EI on board Rivka's ship�
�Chaz Woodworth the Third, an EI I hope you grow to love:)
And then there are the more in-depth names for the planetary squabble. More people stepped up with intensity in ten cities! Tracey Byrnes and Jael Sheppard. I also named one of the Magistrates after Jael.
Tracey Byrnes Planet A—Pretaria. Known for its hotter-than-average arid climate. Planet A's people—Pretarians. Average between 7' - 9' tall, wear their hair long with small-diameter braids on each side of their face (one per side). Anyone seen with shorn hair is outcast or has been judged a criminal. Orange skin tones, yellow eyes with kidney-shaped pupils (think goat), leathery skin from sun exposure, and a penchant for wearing lots of clacking beads. Planet A names —Maseer, Rhonali, Tinashi, Ngobo, Sinraloo.
Jael Sheppard New Planet B—Keome, desert-ish, think red rocks of Colorado color with deep peatish-colored lakes. Flat surface with craters (canyon-y). Planet A's people—Tall, 7 or 8 feet, kind of chameleonable (like all the very descriptive adjectives—able, ish, y. LOL). Bi-pedal, long, long, multi-armed with eyes all around. They could move like an owl. (the eyes, I mean, although... winged would kind of be cool). Yus (primary), Miento (secondary ), Suarpok (priest), Ome (heroine), Yutta (bad guy)
And then there’s me and home. I’ll be here for three months straight without traveling. I’m excited about that. I need to rest and recover and tell some more and varied stories before the fall travel starts. Temps are sweet here at home. Mosquitoes are horrendous, but it’s cool enough to keep 100% of my body covered, including a mosquito head net. It’s good that there are no people about. That’s not a look I want to be known for.
I hope everyone enjoyed this story. It was fun to write in a way that I found most relaxing.
Peace, fellow humans.
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